Military Officer - October 2007 - (Page 49)

to improve testing for TBI effects, including routine baseline pre- and post-deployment testing and immediate testing after any exposure to high-risk blast or concussive events. Fiscal and personnel resources These problems can’t be solved without a commitment to recruiting, training, and contracting needed levels of qualiﬁed medical personnel. Military medical workforces are woefully understaffed and overworked, especially in the mental health arena. We need incentives to bring more people into the service in these critical ﬁelds, to encourage existing servicemembers to cross-train in mental health services, and to contract as necessary to meet exponentially growing needs that can’t be met by current numbers of uniformed personnel. We need outreach capacity to provide care wherever people live, particularly for Guard and Reserve families who don’t live near military installations. That likely will mean increasing reimbursements — especially for mental health care — to attract more providers to participate in the military TRICARE program. TRICARE already pays less than virtually any other national insurance program, and mental health provider payments actually were reduced in 2007. That trend must be reversed, and it’s not going to be cheap. We can’t avoid putting our troops at risk, so we must not shirk our national responsibility to spend whatever it might take to ensure our wounded warriors receive the best treatment there is, in wartime and peacetime alike. tion between the two departments. Nine working groups, each led by under- and assistant secretaries of the two departments, have been meeting weekly since May, and there is no doubt about these ofﬁcials’ sincerity or sense of urgency. But MOAA thinks institutionalizing a change in the system requires more than individual leadership efforts, no matter how energetic. The reality is that most of these leaders likely will turn over with the next change of administration, a little more than a year away. What’s needed are structural changes that will carry the commitment for improvement through the coming leadership turnover and beyond. In MOAA’s view, that means establishing a joint DoD/VA seamless transition ofﬁce, staffed with topquality, experienced people who can formulate and lead “next generation” cooperative arrangements between the departments. Those needs include a joint electronic medical record, an electronic service record document, and a uniﬁed case-management system under which designated caseworkers are assigned to provide continuity of assistance to injured personnel and their families from the time of the injury through recovery and stabilized transition to VA care. Disability retirement reform Current gross disability rating disparities among the services and between DoD and the VA must be resolved. The Independent Review Group appointed by the secretary of Defense found huge disparities among the services’ disability retirement and separation statistics for returning veterans. The percentage of returning veterans who received military disability ratings of 30 percent or higher (and thus qualiﬁed for lifetime retirement beneﬁts) was far lower among Army and Marine Corps servicemembers, who had the greatest [CONTINUES ON PAGE 70] Disability Retirement Disparity (Percent of wounded troops rated 30 percent or more disabled.) 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Army Marine Corps Navy Air Force Joint seamless transition office In the wake of shocking shortfalls in wounded warrior care, senior DoD and VA ofﬁcials are making unprecedented efforts to improve coordina- A recent review found significant differences among the services in the percentage of disabled troops awarded disability ratings of 30percent or higher — the rating necessary to qualify for lifetime military retirement benefits. The Army and Marine Corps, whose troops have borne the brunt of combat, tend to award relatively lower disability ratings, drawing calls for a more consistent rating system. (source: Veterans’ Disability Benefits Commission) 49 OCTOBER 2007 MILITARY OFFICER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - October 2007

Military Officer - October 2007 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Chapter Activities Cover Story: A Hero's Welcome? Partners in Patriotism Tales from Beyond the Battlefield Financial Results of MOAA Pages of History Information Exchange Faces of MOAA Member Books MOAA Scholarship Donors Advertising Index MOAA Member Services MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - October 2007

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